-- Grace Elizabeth --

Thursday, January 29, 2015

There are author's that have a knack for storytelling and Chris Fabry is a master of the written word. I am a huge fan, having read every one of his books. When I pick up his books, I know I will not be disappointed in what I am about to read. I have not seen the movie or the trailer, but after finishing this book, I will make sure I see it.

The book is a modern day tale of King Solomon and the wise and unwise decisions that Jed King makes. His famous father made many mistakes that haunt Jed, in both the songs and life that Jed wants to live. Can he ever find his own"song" and a musical career of his own. He has a small singing event at a vineyard where he meets his love-Rose. That night he sings a song to her and courts her,eventually marrying her. Jed dreams of stardom and this song is his ticket. With fame comes temptation and that temptation is Shelby. She will do anything to sing with him and eventually plays on his weakness to bring him down to her level. How will Rose and Jed's marriage stand up to this test?. How can God rectify this mess? What are the lessons to be learned by Jed and Rose? Fascinating questions that you will find out reading this book. Loved this line from the end of the story. "God offers us hope when we surrender. When we give it over to Him. He can take the sin, the struggles, all the pain we have and bring healing to our hearts. To your heart".

Make sure this book is on your reading list. Great story of love, forgiveness and lots of scripture throughout which adds to the storytelling. After reading The Song, make sure you pick up every book Chris Fabry has written-promise you won't be disappointed.

Thanks To Tyndale Publishers for a free copy to review just for my honest opinion.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Sometimes you read books that make sense and sometimes you read books that leave you baffled. Wonder by Travis Thrasher falls into that catagory for me. I have read quite a few books by Travis and have enjoyed his writing, so that is why I picked this book to review. I did know this was a young adult/teen genre of book when I picked this title. I did find out that this is book two in the series so that could be some of my problem. There was, I thought, enough information in the beginning to sort out some of the characters and some idea of what was happening.

The plot centers around evil in Appleton, Illinois and two unsolved deaths that have the town on edge and wondering who did it and what happened. Brandon Jeffrey is a senior in high school: playing soccer,trying to survive a wicked home life, trying to avoid bullies on the football team, an evil ex-girlfriend and falling in love with Marvel. The only problem is, Marvel believes she will die as a sacrifice for others. There are other teenage things that play into this storyline: drugs, parties, and more bullying of students. There was some suspense, but hoped for more throughout the story. I started reading with an open mind and trying hard to keep reading and wondering where things were going and how all the storyline would tie together. Sadly, for me, that never happened. I did make it to the end and was shocked as to how Travis ended it. It just ended, period. Turning the page, I so expected more, but nothing. I guess there will be a sequel, but the back of the book states-the suspenseful sequel to Marvelous, book one. There are so many loose ends that need to be tied up so be aware when reading this book.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for sending me this book to review free just for my honest opinion.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

The storyline centers around prized artifacts that are disappearing. Nick and Carey are childhood friends that team up together to find and prevent the artifacts from being stolen and put into the wrong hands. I figured with the title that the artifacts had to deal with the apostle John's writing, but never felt this was addressed within the storyline. The third character, Dimitri, runs a family fishing boat but is also involved in some unethical dealings which added another level of mystery.

This book was very hard for me to stick with. I kept waiting for some suspense to keep me interested and found it very hard to pick up and keep reading. I was tempted to skip to the end to get the book finished, but kept at it. I learned a lot of Greeces' culture, sites and problems with the country they are experiencing. The character development was ok, but I felt the author was more interested in what the country looked like that developing the plot. The ending was another problem with me. I was left with the plot and characters up in the air. Must be another story, because this one never ended. It will be hard for me to read another one just to see how this really ends.

I don't like to give negative reviews, so this one took me a while to put my thoughts together and write this review. Thanks go to Bethany House Publishers for this free book just for my honest opinion.

About Me

I am the mother of two children, a daughter and son. My daughter is 1st LT. in the Army. She recently married My son is married and now I have one 7 year old granddaughter,Grace, and a new step granddaughter Kearstan. I also have 2 more step-grandchildren I have been married for 42 years. I retired from a local Christian book store where I was the book buyer. My passion has been reading and selling books to wonderful customers for the last 14 years and I am thankful to God that I was able to do that for so long. I love my church-Faith Church in Lafayette, Indiana and enjoy serving there in various ministries.